Learning through giving…

We are missionaries, and have been since our oldest son was not even 2, so it’s all he’s really known. We live and serve full time in the heart of the inner city. We moved here almost 4 years ago from a quiet southern suburban neighborhood, living the “American Dream.” This is not the life I had intended to have for my children and family but it is certainly the life God has chosen for us and I love it. Being in full time ministry, you’d think it would be easy to teach my son about those less fortunate than us. We live amongst great poverty, crime, and filth. But I have noticed (at least at this age) he doesn’t even notice the differences around us, probably since it’s where he lives.

Recently a co-worker of ours went to Africa (Kenya) for 3 weeks to serve and P learned all about this since he is very close to her. This spurred an interest in Africa and for some reason he became very prayerful and concerned about people living in Africa who struggle to have clean water. We began reading about this and learning bits and pieces. I began praying about what to do with his interest.

Our family sponsors a little girl through Compassion. She lives in Rwanda, she is 11 years old right now, and we have sponsored her for over 5 years. As P became so interested in Africa it occured to me that sponsoring another child would be great for him. I decided to go with World Vision this time, just to change it up a bit, and I selected a boy, also in Rwanda, hoping we might be able to visit them someday. I found a boy with a birthday only 2 months apart from P, whose main chore is carrying water! I received the wonderful sponsorship packet in the mail a couple of weeks before Christmas and we gave it to him as one of his Christmas gifts this year. Our kids get very spoiled by the grandparents on both sides, we don’t buy them much at all, as we don’t believe in having tons of stuff. We felt that giving P the gift of sponsorship and a relationship to develop with another child would be one of the best things we could give him.

I’d like to introduce you to Albert, here is a tiny bit of info about him… (from the WV website)Albert lives with his grandparents and has no brothers or sisters. His grandparents struggle to provide for the family.Albert and his family live in a community severely affected by the HIV/AIDS crisis. In some communities, AIDS affects the entire social structure as a generation of hardworking adults is being wiped out. Frightened children and exhausted grandparents rarely have money for food, school, or medical care. Albert is not in school at this time. He likes to play ball games. He helps at home by carrying water. He is in satisfactory health. I am planning to begin a lapbook focusing on Rwanda, where Albert lives. I want to teach P all about the country and the life children like Albert live. If anyone has done anything like this, please let me know!